Hangman's paradise!!

DEVONthink Tips
1

Have new Devonthink Pro update. Mac os X 10.5.8.

Tried to index external hard disk. Hung.
Tried to Verify & Repair. Found 4 orphaned files. Hung.
Tried using an Evernote import script. Not working.

Not great so far.
Hangman’s paradise!

Any solutions?

2

Update:

Devonthink Pro is becoming totally unuseable.
It’s hanging on indexing a single file!

Tried uninstalling and reinstalling programme, but no good.

Looks like it’s back to Evernote…

3

Please send a message to Support with your description of what happened, and with the following attached:

  1. Recent DT Pro crash log, found at ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/DEVONthink Pro 2/

  2. Your system profile. Launch System Profiler.app (Applications > Utilities), then choose File > Save to save your profile, and attach that file to your reply to this message.

Those attachments can provide information about what’s happening on your computer. Thanks.

4

Thanks, Bill!

Cant find any crash logs.
Think it’s because I’ve had to force quit the app, due to the app hanging, not crashing.

I’ve tried deleting the .plist files in preferences, it was fine, temporarily, but now back to same problem.

Are there any more .plist files I could delete.
Are there any corrupt files lurking anywhere else?

5

@davidwalters:

Crash logs can be found at: ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter . You’ll find the name of the app that caused the crash as the first part of the filename.

As a regular user here is a list of steps that might help out.

  1. Back up your databases.
  2. Back them up again!
  3. Back up the DTPO folder in your library (~/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink Pro 2)

Go to Version Tracker or MacUpdate and locate a application uninstaller such as Amnesia or AppZapper, and download it.

  1. Drag your DTPO application icon onto the uninstaller icon. The uninstaller will search out many of the “hidden” support files and .plists that might be associated with DTPO.
  2. Look over the list of files that the uninstaller has found. Toggle “off” those files you don’t think ought to be trashed. Amnesia has the option to archive these files rather than outright trashing them.
  3. Go to DevonTech and download the latest version of the software by going here: devon-technologies.com/download/index.html
  4. Proceed through the installation process and you should have a prime version ready to run.

Launch it and see if it launches, if it does, open an existing database. Be sure to do a verify & repair by going to Tools > Verify & Repair.

If all this fails, then create a new user account and see if you can set up a database there.

If that fails, I’m fresh out of ideas. Does anyone else have anything to add: sjk? korm? kewms?

6

Think I’ve solved the problem.

Since de-activating Pastebot Sync (a Mac helper used in conjunction with iPhone clipboard app Pastebot) it seems things are fine !!

Coincidence or cause?

7

Hi Twicks!

Sorry, didn’t see your message before posting my last one!
Thanks for the info.

Any thoughts on my previous post?

8

Very possibly the cause. I don’t use any of those multiple clipboard utilities and the like, because they can cause OS X errors.

I use Christian’s Snippets element in XMenus, as that lets me create as many snippets of text for insertion into documents as I wish, without endangering computer stability.

9

Thanks, Bill.

I’m trying out a clipboard utility called Clips, which doesn’t appear to be conflicting with DT.

In a nutshell, how can these utilities cause problems for DT?

10

There are a lot of utilities that change the functions or appearance of OS X. Which is to say, they hack into and change OS X code.

If the hack is done well and cleanly, and has been well tested there may be no adverse effects on the stability of the operating system and the functioning of other applications. History demonstrates that not all such utilities have been well designed and tested; even if they have been, they may break and cause problems when Apple issues an OS X update or upgrade.

Clipboard utilities change some code and behaviors of OS X.

All those neat little utilities that modify OS X become the bane of existence of people who do software support. Weird things can happen. Utilities that if installed singly don’t cause problems, can interact synergistically with each other, especially if they are modifying the same or related code.

The simple reality: installing any utility that modifies Apple’s code involves a risk to the stability of your computer. My own philosophy is to keep my operating system very close to stock. The result is that my Macs ‘just work’, as does DEVONthink Pro Office on my computers. I don’t have problems, which saves me an enormous amount of time and aggravation, compared to the savings and time and effort promised by some of those little utilities that I didn’t install. I think I’m ahead of the game, by keeping OS X clean and functional.

11

Hi Bill,

Thanks for that info.
Really appreciate it.

I’ll be far more careful in future!